FOREST INDUSTRY 



37 



THOUSAND 

 CORDS 





1,400 



1.200 



1,000 



800 



600 



400 



200 





 19 



- 











.^ 



- 







/ 







■ 







yJ- 







- 



/ ^ 











, 



/'^ 



Straight- 



ine trend 































36 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 19 



48 



Figure 37. — Pulpwood production, 1936-48. 



through some sharp cyclical changes, but the trend, 

 from the beginning of the published record in 1906, 

 has been upward at the average rate of more than 

 2 million board feet a year. In 1946, the cut of veneer 

 Jogs hit an all-time peak of 110 million board feet 

 (International {4 -inch rule) . This upward trend re- 

 flects an increase in the lower-grade box veneers. 

 Production of quality veneers has barely held even. 



The volume of tight cooperage cut rose to about 

 40 milLon board feet of logs in 1910, then declined at 

 a fairly rapid rate. Since 1910 production has fol- 

 lowed the erratic course of demand, reaching 40 

 million board feet again in 1946 (International 54- 

 inch rule), but in general it has remained well below 

 the peak years which preceded World War I. A 

 prominent factor in the decline was the early cutting 

 out of the best white oak. 



Slack cooperage output has had a long and steady 

 growth. The peak of 30 million board feet of logs in 

 1929 was at least doubled in 1946. Little information 

 on fuel wood production is available, but the long-term 

 trend, under the impact of other fuels like coal, oil, 

 and gas, is clearly downward. Little fuel wood is used 

 off the farm, and now nearly one-fourth of Missis- 

 sippi's farmers use some other fuel either exclusively 

 or predominantly. 



The yield of gum naval stores in the State reached 

 its all-time peak of 53,000 barrels (50 gallons per 

 barrel) of turpentine and 185,000 barrels (500 pounds 

 net per barrel ) of rosin in 1921. Thereafter, yield fell 



955528°— 51 6 



off rapidly as the virgin pine was depleted. By 1938, 

 gum yield was only 32 percent of the 1921 peak. Sub- 

 sequently, it dropped year by year to a mere 4 percent 

 in 1946. 



In recent years, the stumps of old-growth longleaf 

 and slash pines and the waste liquors produced in pulp 

 manufacture have become the important sources of 

 naval stores. In 1936, some 300,000 tons of stumps 

 were removed from the ground; in 1946, 623,000 tons. 

 State statistics on naval stores turned out as a by- 

 product of pulp manufacture are not available, but 

 this source has been growing in importance. 



Drain 



What does the output of all timber products in the 

 round or split form mean in terms of drain, i. e., the 

 volume of growing stock removed or incidentally 

 destroyed in the harvesting of logs and bolts? ^ For all 

 products combined, total drain on growing stock is 

 17 percent greater than the total output of timber 

 products in Mississippi. 



Sawlogs for lumber alone make up 51 percent of 

 the total drain (554 million cubic feet in 1946.) The 

 next largest items are pulpwood and fuel wood, each 

 accounting for about 15 percent of the total. Of other 

 commodities, only hewn ties amount to as much as 5 

 percent (fig. 38) . 



" Drain does not include mortality losses. Such losses are 

 accounted for in the calculation of net growth. 



SAWLOGS 



FUEL WOOD 



COOPERA 



VENEER 



WOOD 



TIES 



6E BOLTS 



BOLTS 



HER 



^X 



\uO 



100 



50 50 



MILLION CUBIC FEET 



100 



150 



SOFTWOOD 



HARDWOOD 



Figure 38. — Drain on total growing stock by commodity, 

 1946. 



